The Path Home
by Walker63
Summary: Munkustrap, Mistoffelees and Etcetera are sent to the world of Magnamund and have to find their way home through a perilous journey to the ends of the earth. This is a Lone WolfCATS crossover. Please r
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first time writing a story like this and I dont have a beta, so please be kind. This is a Lone Wolf/CATS crossover and I'm not sure it will ever be finished. The Lone Wolf bits are based on the novels rather than the adventure books.

Lonewolf Timeline: I dont have an exact timeline that the story takes place, but for the purpose of the story it's after the darklord Haakon has been slain and Qinefer has left to follow her own path. The war to save the lastlands is currently in remission. For the purpose of this story both Viveka and Petra have permanent residence at the Kai Monastery and Banedon just so happens to be there as well. The gestalt entities have yet to make an appearance. Please forgive any mistakes because it's been a while since I read the books.

CATS: The timeline is irrelevant, though characters have been revamped a little. Etcetera is exciteable, but not a ditz. Munkustrap is not the jellicle protector/guardian and he's in no way related to Dueteronomy. For the purpose of this story Mistoffelees is both older and more experienced than he is protrayed in the musical.

* * *

It was a balmy day, the sun had been shining all afternoon and the shadows that marked the evening were just beginning to fall. Etcetera was in the happiest mood she'd been in since the Jellicle Ball and she wasn't afraid to let the world know. Her smile seemed to illuminate the area around her, white teeth flashing brightly as she spun around chasing butterflies, insects and tall peices of grass. In the absense of those items she would resort to chasing her own tail.

The result was so ridiculous that the tom walking with her had to laugh.

It was rare these days that Munkustrap would laugh, though when he did it was always around the 'kittens' and the silver tabby was glad to walk Etcetera home if only for the chance to watch her play in that way that only carefree kittens could. (Though he had to admit she wasn't exactly a kitten any longer.)  
"Munkustrap, I have to talk to you."  
The voice spoke up behind him and Munkustrap looked over his shoulder to see Mistoffelees trotting to catch up with him. The silver tabby paused a moment to let the smaller tom catch up before he replied. "Mistoffelees. What brings you out to this part of London so late in the afternoon?"  
The conjurer cleared his throat, seeming to wonder the same thing for a moment. His ageless face - not quite that of a kitten, not quite that of a tom - looked puzzled for a moment. "I wanted to discuss a certain phenomenon with you."  
"'Phenomenon'?" Munkustrap asked and he let his mind drift away from Etcetera and her gleeful games in order to scrutinise the other tom more carefully. "A magical occurence?"  
"It's almost spiritual... Yes, no..." Mistoffelees sighed. He was obviously frustrated, "I don't know what it is."  
The silver tabby tilted his head to the side. "Surely it would be better to discuss this with one of the twins? Or Cassandra? Cats that have studied the mystical arts. I dont think I'll be able to help you."  
"I was curious to know if you felt it too," Mistoffelees told him with a strange look on his face.  
"Magicians," Munkustrap shook his head. He turned to look at Etcetera who had taken the opportunity to stalk what a frog through the grass. "You're all irrevocably cryptic."  
"Irrefutably," Mistoffelees replied, rapidly becoming agitated. The conjurer's ears twitched in this direction and that, his tail gained a life of it's own. "Munkustrap, I can't help but sense that something is about to happen. I came to you because you of all the jellicles seem to have a sense of the city itself. I wanted to rule out plain paranoia before checking with those of the tribe versed in the mystical arts."  
"Something," Munkustrap frowned, his whiskers twitched, "something about to happen. No, there's nothing I can sense, or I would have told Etcetera to stay in the junkyard rather than offer to walk her home..."  
"You care about the tribe's kittens, dont you?" Mistoffelees said softly and a small smile crossed his face. "Especially one in particular."

However Munkustrap wasn't listening. Instead he tilted his face towards the wind, eyebrows drawn close together in a queer sort of frown. The tip of his nose twitched. "And yet... there is something that I'm missing. I feel I haven't got the whole picture. As though something _were_ about to happen that I can't quite grasp."

Mistoffelees felt it then. The tingle underneath his fur that told him when the forces of magic in the air were particularly potent. "Munkustrap!" He warned, a second too late for the silver tabby was already on his guard. Even Etcetera had ceased in her playfulness and had started to look about with a wary expression upon her face.

_In the ice caps of the far off Kalte which was separated from this world by so many layers of ice and cold magic, the fabric of time was stretching. An entity that had once been dead and gone stirred to life and even in the sulphur-laced air of Helgedad a chill seemed to shiver through the air. Darklords - who were separated from the truly living by their soulless evil - felt something in the air shift. _

_A magic ripple interrupted the meditations and machinations of those in Toran's Brotherhood of the Crystal Star and even those of the Elder Magi felt the shift in time.  
Lone Wolf's head raised slowly. He sniffed the air. He could smell those scents that surrounding his very bare room in the rebuilt left wing of the monastary. An itch in the back of his mind, much like those he felt whilst being probed by magic, alterted him to the fact that something was happening. He glanced at the Sommerswerd where it lay peacefully in its scabbard. The soulstuff of the sword lay dormant. Surely if there were to be another attack the sword would have been giving off some sort of vibration. Nonetheless he took up the scabbard in his hand and stalked outside, ready to call the alarm should he have to. _

_And in the vast beyond where she lay dormant, then entity known as Alyss swore. "Blast him!" _

Then Munkustrap woke up from where he was lying on the grass. His head felt strange, clogged up somehow and fuzzy. Nearby, Etcetera made a soft noise as she woke up in a similar situation. Munkustrap looked around for any sign of Mistoffelees. He saw the conjurer seconds later, standing at the edge of an unusual looking stream. The small black and white tom turned to look at him and regarded him with lamplike blue eyes that seemed unusually guarded.

"Munkustrap," he said softly, "I think we might be in trouble."

Munkustrap nodded dumbly. He was unable to make his mouth work quite the way he wanted it to. It took him a long moment to speak and when he did the words were near frightening. "Yes. I dont recognise this forest at all."  
The three jellicles were silent a long time. Finally Etcetera spoke; Her voice was hushed in a manner that made Munkustrap's heart break to hear it so devoid of the happiness he'd seen in her earlier. "I dont like this. Can we go home, please?"  
"Soon, Etcetera," Munkustrap told her, knowing it was a lie just as she did. "We'll be back in the junkyard in no time."


	2. Chapter 2: A Giak Attack

The stream seemed the best course of action to follow. The forest was dark and very unwelcoming to the three jellicles and for the better part of three nights they had only slept while one of them stayed awake. This responsibility fell on the shoulders of the two toms who felt it their duty to protect Etcetera who was both younger and a queen. Munkustrap and Mistoffelees took turns sleeping and staying awake and each night there was a fire lit by the conjurer's paw. Food in the forest was plentiful when all three moved silently and stealthily. Though they came across another even more disconcerting fact than this new and almost hostile landscape. The small game they found, rabits and other such creatures, were much much smaller than they were used to. Creatures that had once been close to being of a size with them were now small enough to constitute only half a meal. Munkustrap had the suspicion that somehow they had grown bigger and their ability to appear as four-legged creatures seemed to have disappeared.  
Etcetera was quieter than usual. She followed the two toms as silent as a breeze until...  
"Munkustrap!" Etcetera cried in a hiss, her voice alarmed. The silver tabby whirled around as fast as lightning to see Etcetera pointing to the other side of the stream. He followed the way she was pointing with his eyes. What he saw made the fur on the back of his neck stand on end.

Small, ugly, humanoid creatures seemed to be milling about at the edge of the stream. There was a group of five, each of them dressed in what looked like crudely shod armour, their stubby fingers clutching black serrated swords. The creatures themselves were grey skinned to the point of looking green, beady eyes wide-set in their toadlike skulls. Their language was gutteral, made of harsh sounds and glottal stops. Mistoffelees was beside him within seconds.

"Munkustrap,"Mistoffelees murmered quietly. A paw on his shoulder startled the tabby out of his observations. "We need to move."  
The silver tabby nodded andmotioning that the conjurer should take Etcetera back into the woods where they would not be seen. Mistoffelees moved silently as only a cat could. He took Etcetera's arm and led her back into the forest. Munkustrap waited until he was sure they were out of sight before attempting to follow them.  
However, he was not so lucky.

A barrage of frantic sound hit him, the creatures on the other side of the river obviously having spotted him. By the way they brandished those serrated blades Munkustrap was willing to bet that they were not planning on saying a cheerful 'hello'. The creatures surged forward, splashing through the stream. Munkustrap bolted. He ran in a direction away from where Mistoffelees had taken Etcetera, intent on at least sparing those two from the chase.

The silver tabby ran, dodging trees and shrubs with dangerous looking thorns all the while barely managing to keep his head start. For all that the creatures were smaller than he they seemed to have a great deal of stamina. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that he would have to stop and face them.  
That decision made, Munkustrap abruptly stopped. He turned to face the oncoming creatures with his teeth bared and his claws extended to their full length. The fur on his shoulders and back puffed up all the way down to his tail, which made him look a great deal larger and feircer than he was.

The creatures did not slow down but ran straight at him with their blades held high. Munkustrap dodged the serrated blades as best he could, lashing out with his clawed forepaws and kicking with his feet. The little humanoids were ferocious fighters. They didn't seem to notice any flesh-wounds they gained and only seemed to stumble when Munkustrap struck at their eyes. Munkustrap knew he was fighting for his life when one of the blades fell sharply across his shoulder, the serrated edge dragging through fur and skin to expose the muscle underneath. Munkustrap roared. Even Macavity's claws did not sting so feircely.  
He was forced to extreme action, taking the time to wrest one of the blades from it's owner and scoring a set of jagged teeth marks for his pains. Unfamiliar to handling a weapon, the jellicle slew the first of the creatures with an undignified stab. He used the weapon in place of his claws, and soon found it to be exceptionally more effective. The wound on his shoulder bleeding sluggishly he dispatched the second and third in rapid succession. The fourth put up more of a fight and he was barely able to dodge the swings of the fifth as the last two creatures closed in on him. Munkustrap looked around wildly for an escape... and when there was none to be found, he decapitated one of the creatures with a wild swing of his blade. The fifth ran. Presumably to avoid the same fate.

Munkustrap slumped against a nearby tree. The sword fell limply from his paw. He could feel the sharp sting of his shoulder wound, as well as various scrapes and pains from shallower cuts over his chest an arms. The silver tabby struggled back to the edge of the stream, the only landmark he knew in this peculiar world. He resisted the urge to think back upon the battle he had just fought and his tail trailed limply behind him.

Banedon walked casually beside Lone Wold as the pair tramped through the underbrush to the stream. Both young men were silent, Lone Wolf lost in his own thoughts, and the magician simply content to enjoy the calm of the forest. Banedon spared a thought for the damage to his robe that this treck was no doubt doing, and with the work of a thought carefully spelled the bottom half of his magician's robe impervious to harm from dirt and leaves. The spell was a frivolous one, but it was better use of his time than having to patch the hem of the robe that marked him a magician from the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star.  
Both Lone Wolf and Banedon carried large earthenware jars which they would fill with water from the stream to take back tot he Kai monastery. The young kai remained taciturn and wan in the face of Qinefer's disappearance, but Banedon was glad that his friend could still be brought to leave the monastery (and the Book of the Magnakai) and stop moping for a while. Even if it was to do such a menial thing as carry water.

As they neared the stream, Banedon found himself with a frown upon his face. Something was causing a mental twinge in the back of his mind, an unfamiliar itch. Upon seeing the stream - and the creature that knelt beside it - the feeling was immediately explained.  
The creature was large. If it were standing upright it would have easily towered over the both of them. It was humanoid, and sported a long striped tail, twitching catlike ears, and was covered from head to toe in glossy fur. Its body was mostly gray, but black stripes slashed here and there as though it were nothing more than an overgrown tabby cat. yet it was a quite definate cross between man and feline.  
Lone Wolf spotted it at the same time that he did, and both men stopped to stare at it. Lone Wolf's hand strayed to the hilt of the Sommerswerd, which he had taken to carrying everywhere with him for the past few days. At the movement the creature's head jerked up and its ears swivelled in their direction. It seemed to have been caught in the act of rinsing out a particularly nasty gash upon its left shoulder. Lamplike yellow eyes flashed in their direction, the creature's ears falling back. Breifly Banedon wondered at the sudden creativity of the forces of darkness. Was this... cat-man merely a servant of Naar unfortunate enough to have run across some trouble on its way to attack the Kai? Banedon dismissed the idea after no longer than the barest of moments. The creature looked just as startled to see them as they were to see it.

Lone Wolf took a step forward, his hand firmly wrapped around the hilt of the Sommerswerd in case of any sudden movements. In response the creature drew back a little and both men could see that its torso was covered in shallow wounds as if it had suffered through a very recent battle.  
"I would say," murmered Banedon to his companion, "that it seems a great deal more frightened of us than we are of it."  
"Yes," agreed Lone Wolf, and the kai's hand fell from his sword. "But is it peaceable?"  
The kai lord raised his hands to show that he was unarmed, trying to remember if he had heard of any references to catlike creatures living anywhere in Magnamund. All that came to mind were the noodnics of Durenor, creatures that at first glance looked like nothing more than peculiarly large rats. "Well met, friend," Lone Wolf spoke. He kept his voice friendly, so that even if the creature did not understand the language it would at least recognise the tone. "I am Lone Wolf. My companion's name is Banedon. Who might you be?"

The creature raised itself up on its hind legs, which gave the men time to note that the creature was in fact a male. It tilted its head to the side and spoke. Words that neither man had ever heard the like of passed from the felinoid's lips in a voice that seemed to be half a purr and half a growl. Inhuman, but in no way unfriendly. Lone Wolf frowned, as unable to decipher the creature's meaning as Banedon was. He was about to attempt to use the kai discipline of Animal Kingship to try and communicate with it - the creature being half cat after all - when the cat-creature seemed to sway dangerously on his feet before collapsing.

Banedon crossed the stream, Lone Wolf close behind him. "Shock," the magician pronounced. "That wound," Lone wolf indicated the still-bleeding gash that parted the creature's fur, "was inflicted by a giak blade. He was wise to try and clean it."  
Banedon frowned, attempting to come to a decision. "Well, old friend," he adressed Lone Wolf, far more cheerfully than he felt, "what do we do with him? We can't very well leave him here without knowing what he's up to."  
"And I suspsect there's more to this creature than there seems," agreed Lone Wolf. "It's the least we can do to try and find where he comes from."

For Banedon, it was the work of second to craft a spell that would bring he, his friend, and the unconscious creature back to the monastery. For the moment, they would treat the cat-man as an ally. There would be plenty of time to discover his true alliances when he woke up.


	3. Chapter 3: All Bandaged Up

Author's Note: Well it's been a long while since I posted the first two chapters, but I recently came across some new inspiration. If we're lucky there might even be another chapter coming within the next couple of weeks.

* * *

Chapter Two: All Bandaged Up

Munkustrap's mind felt fuzzy. He was aware of more than a few things about the place where he found himself. He was lying on something soft that reminded him of fur. A rough woven blanket covered his legs to his waist. The place he was in felt warm, the soothing heat of a fire burned somewhere near him.

Calloused hands smoothed something sticky over his shoulder. Munkustrap's eyes blinked open and focussed upon a young human with close-cropped blonde hair and tanned skin. It took him a moment to realise that the human was female and her dress reminded him of that of a warrior.

"You're awake," the woman said. Her voice was strong, but quiet. "That was a nasty wound to your shoulder."

Munkustrap blinked up at the woman. He understood that he must be among friends, as his shoulder wasn't nearly in so much pain and crisp clean linnen bandaged his wounds. "_Mistoffelees_..." He began, his voice a croak. He cleared his throat, then tried again, "_Mistoffelees and Etcetera, have you seen them_?"

"I'm sorry, friend," the woman replied, "I'm afraid I dont know what you're saying. Neither did Lone Wolf or Banedon from what I hear."

The silver tabby lay back to stare up at the ceiling though his ears followed the sound of the blonde woman's movements across the room. "Lone Wolf wanted to know when you were awake," the woman said. "Dont be frightened when I come back with him and dont try and go anywhere, Viveka is watching the door."

* * *

Munkustrap waited patiently whilst wondering what would happen next. He needed to find Mistoffelees and Etcetera lest they came into contact with the same creatures that he had. With very careful movements, Munkustrap raised a paw in examination of the bandage across his shoulder. The material was unlike that he'd ever felt. It was coarser than any fabric he was used to, though it was most definately linnen... Maybe the difference was that it was hand woven?

He had just been attempting to sit when the human woman returned. Munkustrap had decided against continued surprise at the height of the humans. There was no point in worrying about the indiscrepancies of what he was sure was some kind of alternate world.

Munkustrap recognised the blond man from the river, the one who had carried the sword. The silver tabby's whiskers twitched, his ears flicking forward in understanding. The men from the river must have been how he had wound up where he was now.

* * *

Lone Wolf regarded the cat-creature with wary curiosity, he sat down in a wooden chair beside the bed upon which the cat-person lay. The young Kai recalled the disciplines of his order and reached out to recapture an almost forgotten skill. Animal kinship was one he hadn't used in what seemed like a very long time so he felt almost hesitant at using it with this creature. Lone Wolf spoke slowly and clearly, reaching out with his mind to forge a connection with the cat-creature.

"My name is Lone Wolf," he said and made sure his voice sounded friendly, "who -or more accurately, _what_ - are you, friend?"

The cat-creature's face registered surprise, his long silver and black tail twitching beneath the blanket. After a long pause, the silver and black tabby cleared his throat. "_I am Munkustrap_," he replied (and now that he was using the skill of Animal kinship, the voice that spoke sounded far less unusual), "_and... I see no point in keeping it from you, I am a jellicle_." Munkustrap indicated his bandaged shoulder and then his surroundings with a sweep of a clawed hand. "_I understand I have you to thank for this_?"

"I and my friend brought you back to the Kai monastery," Lone Wolf explained, the word 'jellicle' still puzzling him a little. "I hope that was not too hasty a decision."

Munkustrap cocked his head to the side as though assessing the likelihood of Lone Wolf's trustworthyness. Finally the 'jellicle' spoke again; "_I am concerned about those I was travelling with. A young male and female of my kind, one with whom you may have skills in common, have you or anyone else seen any sign of them_?"

Two more of them? Lone Wolf considered. "No, we've had no word of any other... _jellicles_ in the nearby woods."

"_Oh_..."

"If I have your word that your kind are indeed friends then we would gladly assist you in finding them," Lone Wolf offered. He had decided that he would offer Munkustrap the same courtesy he would to any other traveller in his position and help him in any way he could. "They are_ jellicles _like yourself?"

Munkustrap nodded, a motion which made the longer fur (much the same as any human's hair) on his head flutter. "_A black tuxedo and a butter calico_," the silver and black jellicle replied; His description sounding as though he were talking about ordinary cats. "_They will be travelling alone, and possibly frightened. It may not be best to contact them directly... We haven't had much experience with humans, they may not think you trustworthy_."

"Do you think I am trutworthy?" Lone Wolf asked out of sheer curiosity.

"_I have little choice in the matter_," Munkustrap said candidly. A small smile passed across the jellicle's lips. "_You seem to speak my language. I fear that's as close to 'trustworthy' as I'm going to get_."

Lone Wolf couldn't help a smile. The jellicle had a sense of humour. "If you will tell me their last known location I and my companions may begin a search for your friends."

Munkustrap nodded and the jellicle's clawed fingers fiddled with the linen bandage across his shoulder. "_The last I saw of them they were headed east into the forest, away from the stream where you found me. I dont know how much ground they could have covered since then_." Munkustrap paused, ears twitching as he thought. "_They may be looking for me already_."

Lone Wolf nodded once. "I will tell the others to mention your name should they see your friends. It may help dissintegrate the language barrier and let them know that we mean no harm." The Kai lord paused in thought, calloused fingers stroked a well-trimmed beard. "My friend Banedon is a magician of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star," Lone Wolf began thoughtfully, "perhaps he can craft a spell to allow him to speak with you while the rest of us search."

"_Banedon is the man who was with you at the river?_"

"Yes." The Kai nodded in confirmation.

Munkustrap's whiskers twitched and a very human expression of caution flickered across his face. Lone Wolf could sense an internal debate within the jellicle's mind. After a long silence Munkustrap finally spoke; "_The tuxedo tom, Mistoffelees, he is a conjurer - a magician_."

Lone Wolf considered this new information. "I will tell the others to bear that in mind."

Munkustrap lay back down upon the bed and Lone Wolf stood to organise the acolytes into groups for a proper seach party. Petra and Banedon would stay at the monastery in case anything should happen, or the objects of the search appear of their own accord.

* * *

Banedon was a young man of the same age as Lone Wolf. He and the Kai shared the same colour of hair and eyes, though neither were related and Banedon was a great deal smaller in both demeanour and size. His robe was ill-fitting and not the least bit flattering, but when the ocassion called for it Banedon seemed to blossom into a powerful and wise magician who seemed twice (if not thrice) the young man's real age.  
He veiwed the cat-creature on the bed with muted curiosity. However, his curiosity was only muted because it would have been exceptionally rude to treat the 'jellicle' as some sort of specimen to be studied.

In stead he regarded the silver tabby with the same amount of outward curiosity that one might give to a traveller who had a few interesting stories to tell. Munkustrap seemed to be regarding him in much the same way.

"_Lone Wolf tells me that you're a magician_." Munkustrap spoke suddenly. His voice penetrated the silence that had fallen while Banedon concentrated on the patterns of power in his mind that would call up a spell of translation.

It took a few seconds for the spell to take effect and when it had Banedon nodded. "He tells me that one of your companions is also a magician."

"_Mistoffelees_," Munkustrap agreed while still regarding the magician with curious green eyes. "_He is one of a few with mystical powers in my tribe_."

"Tribe..." Banedon rolled the word around his mouth as though it were some kind of verbal delicacy. The only tribes he had any experience with were those that lived in the deserts of Vassagonia, or the barbarian tribes that lived in the far north in the icy regions of Kalte. "Do you know how you came to be here? Were you travelling anywhere in particular?"

"_I haven't a clue_," Munkustrap confessed with a shrug (and a wince at moving his wounded shoulder). "_We never intended to come here. I confess I dont even know where 'here' is_."

"You are at the Kai Monastery in central Sommerlund," Banedon stated. He watched the jellicle closely for any sign of recognition. "A few days ride away from the capital city of Holmgard."

Munkustrap sighed, an action that made his whiskers flutter. "_That means nothing to me_."

"I'm sorry," Banedon replied, for it seemed to be the only way he could reply.

"_Those creatures_," Munkustrap began suddenly and his expression was unnaturraly sharp and focussed. "_The creatures that attacked me - I'm sure you know the ones - what were they?_"

"Giaks," Banedon replied without hesitation. "The mindless infantry of the Dark God's army. They are the expendable soldiers and labourers of the darklords of helgedad."

"_Darklords_..." The jellicle frowned. "_Lords of darkness?_"

"The servants of Naar," Banedon explained. He sensed that the jellicle would know nothing of Naar or his servants, which removed any possibility of Munkustrap's species being steeped in evil. "Helgedad is the fearsome city that they populate, far out into the wastelands of the north. There were twenty darklords, though some of them have been killed over the years. They exist for the sole purpose of destruction and the enactment of vile deeds." The young magician paused. "There are other creatures of darkness. Hellspawn, flying creatures and the walking dead."

"_Yours sounds like a very fearsom reality_..."

"You dont think we belong to the same world?"

Munkustrap eyed the magician with a very shrewd expression on his very human face. "_How can we? If I have never heard of these things, and you have never heard of my kind?_"

It was a good point, Banedon conceeded. A very good point indeed.


End file.
